Perez the Mouseby Luis Coloma
translated by Lady Moreton

Purists would say that you are not allowed to call yourself “the First” if there has not yet been a Second. One of those purists is Miss Manners, who has some pointed things to say about a certain “King Juan Smith I”. This is fitting, because . . .

. . . in real life, “King Bubi the First” was Juan Carlos’s grandfather, Alfonso XIII of Spain. (The first eleven Alfonsos were kings of Castile only, but who’s counting? Clearly not Aragon, Catalonia, Andalusia, Galicia, Leon, Navarre and outlying areas.) As a posthumous child, he was king from the moment he was born. If he had been a girl, his older sister would have ended up queen instead. Luckily she was only about five years old at the time and was probably placated with extra candy rations. Later develop­ments suggest she and her sister had a lucky escape. Although Alfonso didn’t formally abdicate until a few months before he died—not, as it turned out, a “very old man”—he was effectively out of the picture for the last ten years or so, what with one change of government and another.

Like most monarchs in his age bracket, Alfonso married a grand­daughter of Queen Victoria, with the predictable result that two of his sons had hemophilia. For reasons that I may prefer not to know, the wikipedia articles on both Alfonso XIII and his father are absolutely fascinated by their respective Alfonsos’ illegi­timate children, and have much more to say about them than about the marital ones.

Perez the Mouse was written when Alfonso alias Bubi was eight years old, at the request of his mother. This probably explains why the book is so oozy in its praise of Bubi’s mother. I suspect she was not too bright in real life, or she’d have told the author to cut it out.

History does not record whether the book caused Alfonso lifelong embar­rassment or whether, instead, he shoved presen­tation copies down the metaphorical throats of every child he ever met for the rest of his life.

Incidentally, the translator began life as Ada Margarette Smith. “Lady Moreton” definitely sounds swankier. She in turn must have thought “Bubi” sounded more Spanish than the original spelling, “Buby”.

There are two Spanish versions of this book. The original publication, Ratón Pérez by Luis Coloma with drawings by Mariano Pedrero, is available from Project Gutenberg as ebook 36558. An alternative etext, using Coloma’s Spanish text but with Howard Vyse’s color illustrations, is next door on this site.

PEREZ THE MOUSE

8

Once upon a time there lived a king
called Bubi the First, who was very kind to poor children and mice. For
the children he built a factory for making dolls and cardboard horses,
for the benefit of the mice he made wise laws to stop cats catching
them, and absolutely forbade the use of mouse-traps.
Bubi began to reign when he was only six years old, under the care of
his mother, who was very good and clever, and who watched over him and
guided his steps, as good children are guided by their Guardian
Angel.

8

The oldest of the Court Doctors

9

Bubi was a darling little boy, and when on great days they put on his
gold crown and his embroidered robes, the gold of his crown was not
brighter than his hair nor the ermine of his robes softer than his
cheeks and hands. He was just like a little Dresden china figure which
had been put to sit on a throne instead of standing on the chimney
piece.

One day while the King was eating his bread and milk, one of his
teeth began to wobble. There was a great fuss and the Court doctors
arrived in a hurry. *
They were all agreed that His Majesty had begun to change his teeth, and
at
10
length they settled to pull out the loose one. They wanted the King to
have laughing gas, as he did when his hair was cut, as he always
fidgeted so, but Bubi was a brave little boy and made up his mind to
have it out with nothing. The oldest of the Court doctors tied a bit of
red silk round the tooth, and then gave a tweak, and he pulled so
cleverly that, while the King was making a face, out came the tooth as
round and white as a little pearl.

Then there was another fuss as to what was to be done with it, but
Bubi’s mother, who, as we have said was a very wise Queen and
11
very loyal to old customs,
settled that the King should write a very polite letter and put it with
the tooth in an envelope under his pillow that night, which has always
been the proper thing to do ever since the world began, and no one has
ever known Perez the Mouse forget to come and fetch the tooth and leave
a lovely present in its place.

11

Miss Stilton, the Governess

King Bubi found writing that letter a dreadful task, but he managed
really quite well in the end, and only inked all his fingers, the tip of
his nose, his left ear, his right shoe and his bib.

He went to bed very early that
12
evening, and ordered that all the lights should be left in his room. He
put the envelope under his pillow and sat up in bed, determined to keep
awake to see Perez the Mouse, even if he had to wait all night.

13

14

Perez the Mouse
was a long time coming,
so the little King began to make up a little speech to say to him when
he did arrive. After a bit Bubi began to open his eyes very wide,
fighting against the miller who was trying to make him shut them; but
they did shut at last, and the little boy slipped down into the warm
bed-clothes, his head on the pillow, with one arm over it, as a little
bird tucks its head under its wing when it goes to sleep.

Suddenly he felt something very soft just tickling his forehead, and,
sitting up quickly, he saw in front
15
of him, standing on the pillow,
a tiny little mouse in a straw hat and slippers and big gold
spectacles; a red satchel was slung across his back.

15

A tiny little mouse in a straw hat and slippers
and big gold spectacles

King Bubi stared at him in astonishment, and Perez the Mouse, seeing
that His Majesty was awake, took off his hat and made a very low bow,
waiting to be spoken to. But the King said nothing, because he had quite
forgotten all he had made up to say, and after thinking and thinking he
faltered out at last ‘Good night.’ *
Perez answered with a low bow, ‘God give your Majesty a very good
one.’ *These civil speeches quite
broke the ice,
16
and the King and the mouse became the greatest friends. *It was easy to see that Perez was a mouse who was
accustomed to polite society, and to run about on soft carpets, as he
had such very good manners. *It was
wonderful what a lot of things he could talk about which made him a very
pleasant companion. *
He had travelled through all the pipes and drains of the capital, and in
the Royal Library alone he had eaten up three books in less than a
week. *He talked too about his family.
He had two quite grown-up daughters, Adelaide and Elvira, and a son,
nearly grown up, called Adolphus,
17
who was studying for diplomacy in the drawer where the Minister of State
kept his most secret notes. He did not say much about Mrs. Mouse, and
the little King somehow fancied that she was rather vulgar.

16

Adolphus studying for Diplomacy

His Majesty listened to all this with his mouth open, from time to
time he put out his hand to try and catch Perez by the tail. *But each time the mouse gave a sort of whisk and
placed his tail out of reach, without being in the least rude.

17

Adelaide made Tea

It was getting late, and the King forgot to dismiss him; so Mr. Mouse
cleverly hinted that he had
18
to go that same night to a street not far off to fetch the tooth of a
very poor little boy called Giles. It was rather a difficult, dangerous
journey, because near there lived a very wicked cat called Don Pedro.
The King at once wanted to go too, and begged Perez to take him. The
mouse stood thinking it over and twisting his whiskers; the
responsibility was very great, and moreover he was obliged to go back to
his own house to fetch the present for little Giles.
The King said he would like to go and see the mouse’s home, which
so much flattered Perez that he at once offered him a cup of tea and
agreed
19
to take him to see little Giles. Perez the Mouse lived underneath a
grocer’s shop, near a big pile of Gruyere cheeses which supplied
the whole family with breakfast, dinner and tea. Overjoyed, King Bubi
jumped out of bed and began to dress himself, when all at once Perez the
Mouse sprang on his shoulder and put the tip of his tail into His
Majesty’s nose. *Then a wonderful
thing happened, the King sneezed very hard and turned into the most
darling little mouse you ever saw.
He was all soft and shiny, and had wee green eyes like emeralds. *Perez the Mouse took him by the paw and
disappeared
20
with him down a tiny hole under the bed, which had been hidden by the
carpet.

18

The King sneezed very hard and turned into
the most darling little mouse you ever saw

The way was dark and sticky, but they scampered along. Sometimes
Perez the Mouse stopped at some crossway and looked about before going
on, which rather frightened the King and made him feel little shivers
right down to the tip of his tail, and he knew that he was afraid, but
he remembered that:

‘Fear is natural to the prudent,

To conquer it is to be courageous,’

so he would not let himself be frightened, which is being really
brave.

Once when he heard a tremendous
21
noise, like dozens of motor omnibuses passing over his head, he
whispered to ask Perez if that was where Don Pedro lived, but Mr. Mouse
said no with his tail, and on they went.

After going down a gentle slope they came to a big cellar which felt
nice and warm and smelt very much of cheese; behind a pile of Gruyere
cheese they found themselves face to face with the Huntley and Palmer
biscuit tin which was the home of the Perez family. Here they lived as
happily as the rat of fable did in the Dutch cheese. Perez the Mouse
introduced the King as a foreign tourist who was
22
on a visit to the capital, and the family welcomed him very cordially.
The two Miss Mouses were at work with their Governess, Miss Stilton, who
was a very learned English mouse,
and Mrs. Mouse was embroidering a beautiful smoking cap for her husband,
sitting by a bright fire made of raisin stalks.

This happy family party delighted King Bubi. *Adelaide and Elvira made tea and poured out some
into lovely wee cups made out of the skins of white beans. *Then they had a little music. Adelaide sang
Desdemona’s song, ‘O Willow Willow,’ in a way
which much
23
pleased the King, and Elvira recited about a little mouse who was ill of
fever, and a naughty kitten who wanted to pounce on it. After this
Adolphus came in from the Jockey Club where, to the sorrow of his father
and mother, he wasted all his time playing cards with the mice from the
foreign embassies.

22

Perez the Mouse stopped at some crossway

King Bubi would willingly have stayed longer, but Perez, who had
slipped away, came back with his satchel on his back and said it was
time to start. *So the King said
goodbye very politely, and Mrs. Mouse gave him a kiss on each cheek in
her homely way. *
Adelaide put out a paw in a lackadaisical
24
fashion, and Elvira shook hands like a pump handle, while Miss Stilton
made him a beautiful cheese of a curtsey, and then stared at him through
her eyeglass until he was out of sight. *Adolphus, too, was very gushing, and conducted him
as far as the lid of the tin, and offered to introduce him at the Polo
Club, for which the King thanked him very much, thinking all the time
that, though he might be a very smart young mouse, he was rather a bore.
Then Bubi and Perez the Mouse again began their scamper with such a
quantity of precautions that the King was astonished.

24

Mrs. Mouse was embroidering a beautiful
smoking cap for her husband

25

In front of them went a regiment of ferocious mice, soldiers whose
bayonets made of fine needles gleamed in the darkness. Behind them came
a second regiment, also armed to the teeth.

Perez the Mouse then confessed that he would not have undertaken this
expedition without these soldiers to protect the person of the young
monarch.

All of a sudden King Bubi saw the guard in front had disappeared down
a little hole, through which came a faint light.

25

Adolphus playing cards at the Jockey Club

This was the moment of danger. Perez the Mouse, slowly waggling his
tail from side to side, put his
26
head very cautiously through the hole and looked around; he then went
back two steps, and finally, suddenly seizing the King’s paw,
dashed through the hole like an arrow, crossed a big kitchen, and
disappeared through another hole on the opposite side near the range. As
one sees telegraph posts out of the train so Bubi saw that kitchen. By
the hearth, in the glow of the fire, lay an enormous cat, the dreadful
Don Pedro, its great whiskers heaving up and down as it breathed.

The guards silently formed up, from hole to hole, ready to fire, to
protect the King’s route from the
27
sleeping cat. It was all very grand and imposing. An ugly old woman sat
in a chair, also asleep, with her knitting on her knee.

Once through the hole the danger was over, and they had only to get
upstairs, as this was where little Giles lived. Everything was open in
his poor room, which was all cracks and draughts.

King Bubi scrambled on to the arm of a seatless chair, the only one
in the room, and from there could see a picture of poverty such as he
had never dreamt of.

The sloping roof joined the floor, so that on one side a man could not
have stood upright, and through
28
the holes the cold air of dawn was coming, while icicles hung from the
roof. The only furniture besides the chair was an empty bread basket
hanging up, and in a corner a bed of straw and rags, on which little
Giles and his mother were lying fast asleep.

Perez the Mouse drew nearer, taking the King by the paw, and they could
see how little Giles was huddled up in the rags, and how he was cuddled
up against his mother for warmth, and it made the King so unhappy that
he began to cry.

28

The Guards silently formed up ready to fire

Why had he never known that people were so poor? How was it that he
had never been told that
29
children were hungry and had to sleep on horrid beds? He did not want
any blankets on his cot till every child in his kingdom had plenty of
bed-clothes to keep them warm.

29

Ferocious mice
. . . . armed to the teeth

Perez the Mouse brushed away a tear with his paw and then tried to
comfort the King by showing him the bright gold coin he was going to put
under little Giles’ pillow in exchange for his first tooth.

Just then Giles’ mother woke and sat up in bed and looked at her
little boy, who was still asleep. It was becoming light, and she had to
earn some money by washing clothes in the river. *She caught
30
the sleeping Giles in her arms and made him kneel down under a picture
of the Infant Christ which was pinned to the wall near the bed.

The King and Perez the Mouse knelt down too, and so did the soldier
mice who were waiting in the empty bread basket.
The child began to pray, ‘Our Father which art in
Heaven.’

Bubi started and looked at Perez the Mouse, who understood his
astonishment, and fixed his piercing eyes on him, but never said a
single word.

31

32

On the return
journey they were silent and preoccupied, and half an hour later the
King was home in his nursery with Perez the Mouse, who again put the tip
of his tail into Bubi’s nose and made him sneeze. All at once he
found himself safely back again in his own warm little cot, with the
Queen’s arms round him, who woke him, as she always did, with a
kiss.

32

The Order of the Golden Fleece

At first he thought it had all been a dream; but when he looked for the
letter he had put under his pillow, he found it was gone, and in its
place was a case with the Order
33
of the Golden Fleece in diamonds, a magnificent present from the
generous Perez the Mouse in exchange for his first tooth.
(Perhaps I had better explain to English children that in King
Bubi’s country the Order of the Golden Fleece is like our Order of
the Garter, the greatest honour the King can give.)

33

The King and Perez the Mouse knelt down too

The little King, however, paid no attention to his beautiful present,
and let it lie unnoticed on the bed, while, leaning on his elbow, he lay
very busy thinking. *Then, suddenly, he
asked the Queen in a very solemn voice, ‘Mama! Why do poor
children say the same
34
prayer as I do, “Our Father which art in Heaven”?’ The
Queen answered, ‘Because He is as much their Father as He is
yours.’ Then said the King thoughtfully, ‘We must be
brothers.’ ‘Yes, my darling, they are your brothers,’
answered the Queen. *Bubi’s eyes
were filled with astonishment, and, in a choky voice, he asked,
‘Then why am I a King and have everything I want, while they are
poor and have nothing?’

The Queen gave him a squeeze, and, kissing him again on his forehead,
said, ‘Because you are the eldest brother, which is what being
King really means. *You understand,
35
darling? God has given you everything in order that your younger
brothers should want for nothing.’ ‘I never knew this
before,’ said Bubi, shaking his head, and, without thinking any
more about his present, he began to say his prayers, as he did every
morning; and, as he prayed, it seemed to him that all the poor little
boys in the kingdom came round him with their hands clasped, and that
he, the eldest brother, spoke for them all when he prayed ‘Our
Father which art in Heaven.’

King Bubi grew up to be a great ruler. *He always asked God’s help in all he did, and
returned
36
thanks for his happiness, ever saying, speaking for all his subjects,
poor and rich, good and bad, ‘Our Father which art in
Heaven’; and when he died, a very old man, and his good soul
arrived at the gates of Heaven, he knelt down and prayed as usual,
‘Our Father.’
And, as he prayed, the gates were opened wide by thousands of poor
little children to whom he had been King, that is to say, eldest brother
here on earth.

36

The dreadful Don Pedro

37

38

P.S.

The Spanish story
which was written, once upon a time, to amuse a real little boy King,
ends here; but I cannot help adding that it does seem a pity not to try
and get Perez the Mouse to come to England. *
The only way to manage this will be to take great pains over your copies
and spelling, so that when your first tooth comes out you will be able
to write a nice, tidy, polite letter to him. If you put it under your
pillow at night I am nearly sure you will find it gone and a present
39
in its place in the morning. Perhaps you may even feel the same little
soft tickle on your forehead that King Bubi did; but I do not promise
for certain that you will see kind Mr. Mouse, because he is rather
shy.

A.M.M.

40

40

Elvira recited

Unretouched Cover:

The original of this text is in the public domain—at least in the U.S.
My notes are copyright, as are all under-the-hood elements.
If in doubt, ask.